


La Mer

by Elliotalderson



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ghost Jack, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Paranormal, kent calls his family so his little sister eliza and mama parson is in it too!, sad kent before he got kit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 10:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8485711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elliotalderson/pseuds/Elliotalderson
Summary: (an AU where jack died when he ODed and kent has to deal with that and alot of things.. like his apartment being haunted!!!! spoiler: its jack)~~~~Do I care if I survive this, bury the dead where they’re foundIn a veil of great surprises I wonder did you love me at all?





	

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: all characters belong to ngozi ukazu!  
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: referenced alcohol abuse and vomiting (but barely its one sentence ok nothing gross lmao)

_Do I care if I survive this, bury the dead where they’re found_

_In a veil of great surprises I wonder did you love me at all?_

_Do I care if I despise this, nothing else matters,_

_I know In a veil of great disguises, how do I live with your ghost?_

_Should I tear my eyes out now?_

_Everything I see returns to you somehow_

_Should I tear my heart out now?_

_Everything I feel returns to you somehow_

_I want to save you from your sorrow_

 

\- Sufjan Stevens, The Only Thing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kent didn't believe in ghosts. His mother had always tried to convince him that her great aunt Mable was trying to make contact via the leaky faucet in the kitchen but Kent was pretty sure that it was more of a plumbing problem than a paranormal one.

This is what he thought until he moved into his new apartment in Las Vegas. A nice modern penthouse on the seventh floor over looking the neon lights.

It was the nicest place Kent had ever lived in, not counting the times Jack and him had spent the summer at the Zimmerman's summer house in Montreal.

His apartment shouldn't be haunted. It was only built a few years ago and with Vegas being Vegas he made sure to run a sly background check to make sure his last tenant wasn't Patrick Bateman. Sure he may have sounded crazy asking the rich old lady next door if any supernatural occurrences went on during the last few years but hey Kent wasn't too concerned.

He still couldn't shake the feeling. It wasn't anything bad, no slime oozing from the walls or masked men hiding in the closet waiting to jump out at him or anything just little things as if someone was looking out for him.

After a long day a takeout menu was left on the table when he knew he had none, a water bottle would fall over to wake him up when he dozed off in the bath, a blanket over him and glass of water left on his nightstand when he was particularly drunk (an occurrence becoming more and more frequent).

Kent wasn't mad about it, not really, he felt too young and too lonely in an apartment all to himself so whatever was happening wasn't exactly uninvited.

 

Kent made his way up to his floor when he got out from practice. Walking up to his door he stopped as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

Soft music played on the other side of the door. Kent quietly turned the key.

_La mer_

_Qu'on voit danser_

_Le long des golfes clairs_

_A des reflets d'argent_

Slowly pushing the door open Kent walked in, dumping his keys on the kitchen island.

Seeking out the source of the music he noticed it getting louder and louder as he got closer, full volume. Kent hurried to his room where his phone lay on the floor in the centre of the room, screen glowing brightly.

_La mer_

_Des reflets changeants_

_Sous la pluie_

La Mer. He knew this song. Jack would sing it a lot.

He was terrific whistler and belted it out loud when he made pancakes in the morning in his boxers, all sleepy eyes and messy hair and lazy dancing.

Jack would sing it softly while holding Kent close, skin on skin when he thought Kent was asleep. Kent would sing it back when Jack was upset or overwhelmed. He got like that a lot.

It was the first song Kent learned to sing in French because it was Jacks too. Jack insisted that Kent had to learn the words because it was the theme of some kids movie Jack used to watch on repeat as a kid and it drove his parents mad.

It was possible that Kent accidentally pressed the wrong button on his phone. He knew he had the song in a playlist from last summer, maybe the thing had been playing all day but when Kent scrambled for the volume button to turn it down he noticed the battery power flashing up at him reading '100%'.

Full battery.

"Okay. OK. Definitely freaky! But it's fine. It's fine because I'm a big ol' hockey player and ghosts..Ghosts aren't real!" Kent reassured himself dropping the phone and taking slow steps backward before running to the kitchen.

He had a house phone on a side table beside the sofa and he made a grab for it and automatically punched in his moms number.

A couple of shrill rings as Kent settled down onto the leather couch before an answer.

 

"Lo?" Kent's little sister picked up.

"Eliza? That you? It's Kent."

"Kent! How's it going? Whats Vegas like, Kenny? Are your teammates being nice to you? I sure hope so."

"Yeah yeah. It's just great, Liz. They're nice to me and all. I miss you. Can you put mom on real quick?"

Kent wasn't sure what he was doing and why he thought his mother would be the best to contact about his apartment being haunted. If only his teammates could see him now, he'd be chirped so hard.

"But you never call, Kent! I have to tell you about my science project! It's about gravity. Did you know that-"

"Lizzie. Please. You can tell me all about it later, when I call you back. I promise. Hey and I'll bring you home a real nice present when I'm home for Christmas, okay? As long as you put Mom on."

"Jeez, so rude! Okay, ok! I'll put her on. But you gotta call after ballet, you know I got that at 12 tomorrow!"

Kent hummed his agreement then heard some shuffling and footsteps on the other end of the line and his sisters voice call "MAMA! Kenny's callin'"

Meanwhile Kent had settled back down to the couch this time with a bottle of Hennessy to keep him company.

"Kent! What's wrong?" asked his mothers concerned voice.

"Whats wrong? What do you mean whats wrong? Can I not call my mother?"

"Oh please. Kent you haven't called me since you left the airport."

"Okay. Well. I'm pretty sure this place is haunted, Ma."

"Kenny."

"Nah. Hear me out. I come home after practice after being out for hours and my phones just like on the floor and playing..uh this song and its full battery and it makes so sense!"

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation, sweetie."

"That's not all! Did I even tell you about the blanket! Or the menu or the water. All these nice things, Mom. It's like you're in here with me but your hiding and way less bossy."

"Hey! Watch it, mister."

Kent sighed loudly into the phone .

"OK! Honey. What- what was this song you said was playing?"

Kent took a swig from the heavy bottle in his lap.

"Uh- just this french song. Jack would always sing it." Kent mumbled.

"Oh, hon."

A pause. "When your father passed I thought I saw him everywhere. I would think I'd have seen him walking by on the street or that I saw the back of his hair at church. I'd think I'd hear his laugh. But..but sometimes when you love someone very very much everything you see comes back to them somehow, everything you hear, everything you think. But it'll get easier, baby ."

"No." Kent voice came out pained. "I don't want it to get easier."

"Kent you're doing so well. You're so successful, You're working hard and I'm so proud of you."

Kent felt a heavy feeling of guilt. Kent was functioning well enough. Maybe he came home and cried into an old jersey everyday and maybe he drank too much but he still got up early every day and went to practice.

He was still breathing. Still laughing. He worried that people thought he was too happy.

He worries that people think he's happy that he came first in the draft.

Kent pushed him too it. He must have.

It should have been him.

"Mom, I gotta go. Thanks."

Hanging up the phone suddenly, Kent raced to the bathroom and fell to his knees before getting sick into the toilet.

"Fuck." Kent swore and scrubbed his hands over his face before getting up and turning the water on in the sink.

Kent glared at his reflection in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Just under his left eye pink blotches bloomed where they always did on his pale face when he was upset.

"Hey, bud." came a familiar voice behind him.

Kent stilled as his jaw dropped open.

"Jack. Fuck! I'm going crazy. Fuck." Kent stared in the mirror at the man supposedly behind him before turning round to face him.

There he was. All 6 feet of him. Jack Zimmerman. #1 draft prospect. Love of Kent's life.

Jack Zimmerman who died a couple of months ago.

"Kenny." Jack said dumbly. 

"Jack." Kent supplied in return, equally as shocked.

"You can see me?" asked Jack softly. 

"Yeah I can fucking see you. Hard to miss your huge ass taking up my bathroom just like the old days. Y'know when you were alive and I wasn't crazy and drunk talking to myself, seeing all kinds of shit."

"Kenny. You're not crazy. I've been around a while but you're only seeing me now. I was worried about you, Kent. You're not looking after yourself."

Kent wanted to tear his eyes away but he couldn't. 

It was his Jack. All broad shoulders and messy black hair falling into his heavy icy blue eyes.

"Why did you do it, Zimms?"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to be continued

 

**Author's Note:**

> \- im not really a fic writer so if you think this is good and want more please do leave feedback! and my tumblr is poedamnrons if you wanna talk about other aus and of course my main man kenny p!!!!  
> \- kinda thinking of taking it Ns 'wingman' route if you've read that (if not read it now!! its the holsom fireman au prequel kinda? to cp)  
> \- hope you enjoyed! thanks for reading!!!!


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